Most people have heard of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). It is the condition Jack Nicholson’s character has in the movie “As Good as it Gets.” It’s been featured on television programs such as 60 Minutes, Dateline and Oprah. OCD is, in fact, much more common than was previously thought, directly affecting at least one person in 40 in the general population.

What is really shocking, however, is how many children suffer from OCD. According to Tamar Chansky, the author of Freeing Your Child from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and the director of the Children’s Center for OCD and Anxiety in Philadelphia, there are more than a million children in the United States today with OCD. Chansky also reports that the condition affects at least one in 100 American children and that the average age of onset is 10.2.

Adults with OCD usually know they have a problem. They are able to separate their obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviors from normal, healthy thoughts and behaviors, which is considered the first step on the road to recovery. Children, however, generally do not have enough life experience or self-awareness to make this critical distinction. When they find themselves performing bizarre or repetitive rituals, such as washing their hands over and over, they are ashamed and feel like they are going crazy.

Often, these kids are too embarrassed to tell their parents or an adult what is going on. This is why it is so important that adults are aware of OCD and knowledgeable enough about it to detect it in children. As a parent, you will need to guide your child through the acceptance and recovery processes step-by-step.

OCD: Recognizing the Problem

What is OCD exactly? Chansky suggests we think of it as a “brain glitch,” in which the brain sends false messages — such as “the stove is still on,” or “there are harmful germs on the telephone” — and the affected person needs to perform rituals to shut off the voice delivering the message. Because OCD is a vicious cycle, though, the voice doesn’t get shut off — it becomes louder and more insistent instead.

The good news is that OCD, in adults as well as children, is highly treatable. Most people with OCD are able to retrain their brains to ignore the false messages until they just stop getting sent. But how do you know if your child has OCD? Kids often become experts at hiding their symptoms because they feel humiliated and scared.

What parents can do is make their children feel safe and comfortable and watch them carefully for any of the following signs:

Compulsions

Washing and cleaning — washing hands until they are red and chapped; brushing teeth until gums bleed.

Checking — returning to check that the door is locked more than once.

Symmetry — need to have socks at same height on each leg; cuffs of exactly equal width.

Counting — counting of steps while walking; insistence on performing a task a specific number of times.

Repeating/redoing — performing a mindless task repeatedly until it “feels right;” redoing a task that has already been acceptably completed, such as erasing letters on a page until the paper wears through.